Art of an

350
6
Art of an
Emerging
Modern Europe
round 1400 a dramatic change began to
take place in Italy and in western
Europe. As people became more involved in
business, government, military, and social
events, they no longer focused all their attention
on religious matters. After centuries of symbolic
religious images, artists looked to nature for
inspiration, creating works that mirrored the
people, places, and events of the real world.
A
Web Museum Tour The Indianapolis Museum of Art in
Indiana is known for its holdings of Dutch and Flemish
paintings. Visit the museum at art.glencoe.com, and
explore the European collection.
Activity Tour the site and find works by Rembrandt,
Rubens, Seurat, and Gauguin. Then click on the
Geometry of Art feature on the site. Discover how using
lines in different ways helps artists to create very
different works of art. How do artists show threedimensional objects using a flat surface?
Louise Moillon. Still Life with Cherries, Strawberries, and
Gooseberries. 1630. The Norton Simon Foundation, Pasadena,
California. Oil on panel. 32.1 48.6 cm (12 5⁄8 19 1⁄8).
351
16
The italian renaissance
W
hat comes to mind when you think of the Renaissance? What do you
know about the great artists Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and
Raphael? By the beginning of the fifteenth century, there was a revival of
interest in the classical art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. This
interest began in Italy, and scholars and artists began to turn to non-religious
subject matter for inspiration. The period of time in which these events took
place is called the Renaissance. The word means “rebirth” and refers to the
renewed interest in the classical creations that inspired it.
Read to Find Out As you read this chapter, find out about the influences that shaped the Renaissance, the impact of the printing press, and
the artist Masaccio and his use of linear perspective. Learn about the
Renaissance style of sculpture, architecture, and painting. Read further
to discover the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
Focus Activity Think about what you have learned about classical
Greek and Roman art. Make connections between the qualities you see
in the artwork of the Renaissance with the art of classical times. Look
at The School of Athens in Figure 16.1. What qualities remind you of
Greek or Roman art? You will see the quality of realism, the human
figures modeled in light and shadow. Note the subject matter. As you
go through the chapter, continue to look for connections with classical
art and new innovations that make the art uniquely Renaissance art.
Using the Time Line The Time Line introduces you to some of the
innovations of the Renaissance period and works of art created by some
of the West’s most legendary artists.
1412
Filippo Brunelleschi,
an architect, discovers
linear perspective and
writes “Rules of
Perspective”
1400
(Detail)
1450
c. 1400–1520
The Italian Renaissance
352
1415 –17
Donatello portrays
St. George with
lifelike realism
1428
Masaccio uses
linear perspective in The Holy
Trinity fresco
1440
Johannes
Gutenberg
invents a
method
of printing
with movable
type
c. 1500
Rome is the leading
Renaissance city
c. 1500
Michelangelo
carves his
Pietà while in
his early 20s
1500
1495–1527
The High Renaissance
■ FIGURE 16.1
Raphael. The School of Athens. 1509 –11. Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Palace, Rome, Italy.
1503–6
Leonardo da Vinci paints
the Mona Lisa (Detail)
1509–11
Raphael paints
The School of Athens
1532–1625
Sofonisba Anguissola
paints portraits
(credit, p. 375)
1550
c. 1508–12 Michelangelo paints
the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
1600
Refer to the Time Line
on page H11 in your
Art Handbook for more
about this period.
c. 1500 Works by women
artists gain recognition
353
LESSON ONE
The Emergence of the
Italian Renaissance
Vocabulary
■
■
■
■
he fifteenth century was a time of great growth and discovery.
Commerce spread, wealth increased, knowledge multiplied, and
the arts flourished. In Italy, a number of cities grew to become important
trading and industrial centers. Among these was Florence, which rose to
become the capital of the cloth trade and boasted of having the richest
banking house in Europe. (See map, Figure 16.2.)
The Medici family, who controlled this banking empire, became generous patrons of the fine arts.
T
Renaissance
humanism
linear perspective
aerial perspective
Artists to Meet
■
■
■
Masaccio
Fra Angelico
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Influences that Shaped the Renaissance
Discover
After completing this lesson,
you will be able to:
■ Explain the impact of the printing press on the period.
■ Analyze how linear perspective
and aerial perspective are used
to create depth and space.
Renaissance Italy 1400s
8°E
12°E
N
W
E
S
Milan
Venice
Genoa Mantua
Pisa
Florence
Corsica
T
yr
Sardinia
rh
en
Rome
ian
M
ed
Se
Florence
Venice
Kingdom
of the Two
Sicilies
Genoa
Naples
a
ite
Milan
Papal States
During this period, artists and scholars developed an interest in the
art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. This interest in the classics was called humanism. Humanists—the scholars who promoted
humanism—embraced the Greco-Roman belief that each individual has
dignity and worth.
Artists greatly admired the lifelike appearance of classical works and
longed to capture the same quality in their own works. They turned to a
study of nature and the surviving classical sculptures in
an effort to make their artworks look more realistic.
In the middle of the fifteenth century, a German
printer named Johannes Gutenberg perfected the
printing press, an invention that ranks as one of the
16°E
most important contributions of the Renaissance.
Within years, thousands of presses were in operation
in Europe, and hundreds of books were printed from
these presses. This mass-production capability made
44°N
available to great numbers of readers the works of
A
dr
ancient Greek and Roman writers, religious books, and
ia
tic
volumes of poetry and prose.
Se
a
rra
40°N
ne
an
Sicily
Ionian
Sea
Sea
MAP SKILLS
■ FIGURE 16.2 Italy was made up of city-states during
the 1400s. Why was the location of Florence important to
the development and promotion of Renaissance art?
354
Masaccio (1401–1428)
In Florence, the wealthy and better-educated
citizens grew in number and began to show a lively
interest in the arts. Beginning in the fourteenth century and continuing through the fifteenth century, they
made their city the artistic capital of Italy. It was in
Florence that a carefree young painter known as
Masaccio (ma-saht-chee-oh) brought about a revolution in art equal to that brought by Giotto.
Masaccio is regarded as the first important artist of
the Italian Renaissance. He took the innovations of
Giotto and developed them
further to produce a style that
became the trademark of the
Italian Renaissance. It was a style
that owed a great deal to the
fresco technique that continued to
be popular throughout Italy.
The Holy Trinity
■ FIGURE 16.3
Masaccio worked in fresco
when he created one of his greatest works in the Florentine
church of Santa Maria Novella.
The painting was The Holy
Trinity (Figure 16.3). Like Giotto
before him, he ignored unnecessary detail and focused his attention on mass and depth.
He wanted his figures to look
solid and real, so he modeled
them in light and shadow. To
show that some of these figures
were at different distances from
the viewer, he overlapped them.
To increase the lifelike appearance
of his painting even more,
Masaccio created the illusion of a
small chapel. In it he placed the
Holy Trinity, St. John the Baptist,
and the Virgin Mary. On either
side of this chapel, he added two
figures, members of the wealthy
family that had commissioned
him to paint the fresco. These two
figures are life-size. However, the
figures inside the painted chapel
are smaller to show that they are
farther back in space. As a result,
you are made to believe that you
are looking into a real chapel with
real people in it, when actually
the entire scene is painted on a
flat wall.
■ FIGURE 16.3 Masaccio made brilliant use of linear perspective in this work.
The lines of the ceiling and capitals of the columns slant downward and inward to
meet at a vanishing point below the foot of the cross. How might viewers have
reacted when they saw this realism for the first time in a painting?
Masaccio. The Holy Trinity. c. 1428. Fresco. Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy.
Chapter 16 The Italian Renaissance
355
■ FIGURE 16.4 Light has been used to make these figures seem round and solid. Notice the
perspective lines that lead you into the painting. Explain how the setting, clothing, and other
details in this painting help the viewer understand the story depicted here.
Masaccio. The Tribute Money. c. 1427. Fresco. Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy.
Discovery of Linear Perspective
▲
DETAIL:
St. Peter
with
the fish.
■ FIGURE 16.5
Eye Level
An example of linear
perspective.
Vanishing Point
Shortly before Masaccio painted The
Holy Trinity, an architect named Filippo
Brunelleschi (fee-leep-poh brew-nell-less-kee)
made a discovery known as linear perspective, a graphic system that showed artists how
to create the illusion of depth and volume on a
flat surface. Based on geometric principles,
this system enabled an artist to paint figures
and objects so that they seem to move deeper
into a work rather than across it.
Slanting the horizontal lines of buildings
and other objects in the picture makes
them appear to extend back into space
(Figure 16.5). If these lines are lengthened,
they will eventually meet at a point along an
imaginary horizontal line representing the
eye level. The point at which these lines meet
is called a vanishing point.
The Tribute Money
■ FIGURE 16.4
Not too long after finishing The Holy Trinity,
Masaccio began working on a number of large
frescoes in another Florentine church. The
Tribute Money (Figure 16.4) is one of these
frescoes. In it he grouped three scenes to tell a
356
Unit Six Art of an Emerging Modern Europe
story from the life of St. Peter. In the center,
Christ tells St. Peter that he will find a coin in
the mouth of a fish with which to pay a tax collector. The tax collector is shown at Christ’s left
with his back to you. At the left side of the picture, you see St. Peter again, kneeling to remove
the coin from the mouth of the fish. Finally, at
the right, St. Peter firmly places the coin in the
tax collector’s hand.
Aerial Perspective
As in his earlier painting The Holy Trinity,
Masaccio wanted to create a picture that
would look true to life. Depth is suggested by
overlapping the figures of the apostles gathered around Christ. With linear perspective, he
slanted the lines of the building to lead the
viewer’s eye deep into the picture. He also
made distant objects look bluer, lighter, and
duller, heightening the illusion of deep space.
This method, known as atmospheric or aerial
perspective, uses hue, value, and intensity to
show distance in a painting. In The Holy
Trinity, aerial perspective was not used
because the illusion of space was limited to a
chapel interior. In The Tribute Money, an outdoor setting offered Masaccio the opportunity
of using aerial perspective to create the
impression of endless space.
c. 1400
1520
The Italian
Renaissance
Masaccio’s Quest for Reality
Masaccio again modeled his figures so that
they seem to be as solid as statues. To achieve
this effect, he used a strong light that strikes
and lights up some parts of his figures while
leaving other parts in deep shadow. Then he
placed these figures before a faint background.
This makes them seem not only more solid, but
also much closer to you. The figures are quite
large in relation to the rest of the picture and are
shown standing at the front of the scene rather
than farther away.
Because these figures are so large and so
near, you can see clearly what Masaccio was
trying to do. He was concerned with showing
how the body is put together and how it
moves, but he does not stop here in his quest
for reality. Notice the natural and lifelike
gestures and poses of the apostles around
Christ. Now look at the face of St. Peter at the
left and shown in the detail. In his effort to
bend over and take the money from the fish’s
mouth, his face has turned red.
Finally, at the right, observe how St. Peter
hands over the coin with a firm gesture while
the tax collector receives it with a satisfied
expression on his face. The gestures and
expressions here are what you might expect
from real people.
LITERATURE. The invention of a printing press with movable type came about
in Germany in 1440. Books could now be
reproduced with greater ease and less cost.
Books therefore became more available.
A great interest in humanist texts grew
during the Renaissance.
See more Time & Place events on the
Time Line, page H11 in your Art Handbook
MUSIC. During the Renaissance music
moved away from having an exclusive
Church focus. Non-religious songs were written
for musical instruments such as the pear-shaped
lute, made with 11 strings.
Activity Articles. The invention
of movable type made it possible to
quickly print notices and post them on
city walls. Today, because of computers
and copy machines everyone can be an
author. Create your own article or flyer.
Add illustrations, copy the results, and
share it with classmates.
Chapter 16 The Italian Renaissance
357
Blending Renaissance
and Gothic Ideas
Not all Italian artists accepted the innovations made by Masaccio. Many chose to use
some of his ideas and ignore others. Italian
art at this time was a blend of the progressive
ideas of the Early Renaissance and the conservative ideas of the Gothic period. Two
artists who worked in this way were the
painter Fra (or “brother”) Angelico and the
sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Fra Angelico (c. 1400–1455)
Fra Angelico (frah ahn-jay-lee-koh) was
described by the people who knew him as an
excellent painter and a monk of the highest
character. A simple, holy man, he never
started a painting without first saying a
prayer. He also made it a practice not to
retouch or try to improve a painting once it
was finished. He felt that to do so would be
to tamper with the will of God.
The Annunciation
■ FIGURE 16.6
A few years after Masaccio’s death, Fra
Angelico painted a picture in which the angel
■ FIGURE 16.6 These
figures are presented with
more simplicity than figures
painted by Masaccio. How
has the artist shown that
his most important concern
here is telling a clear,
recognizable story?
Fra Angelico. The Annunciation.
c. 1440 – 45. Fresco. Museo di San
Marco, Florence, Italy.
358
Unit Six Art of an Emerging Modern Europe
Gabriel announces to Mary that she is to be
the mother of the Savior (Figure 16.6). This
painting shows that he was familiar with
Masaccio’s ideas and did not hesitate to use
some of them. Fra Angelico’s earlier paintings
had been done in the Gothic style and were
filled with figures and bright colors. In this
painting, there is a simplicity that calls to mind
the works by Masaccio. Fra Angelico uses just
two figures, placing them in a modest, yet realistic, architectural setting.
Although he makes some use of perspective, it is clear that Fra Angelico was not
greatly interested in creating an illusion of
deep space in his picture. The figures of Mary
and the angel do not overlap as do the figures
in Masaccio’s paintings. Instead, they are separated and placed within a limited area
marked off by arches. Fra Angelico chose not
to use Masaccio’s modeling techniques to
make his figures look round and solid. There
is little to suggest that real people exist
beneath the garments he paints.
There are no surprises in Fra Angelico’s
paintings. The gestures and facial expressions
are easy to read. Like Gothic artists before him,
Fra Angelico painted the religious story so that
it could be easily understood. This religious
story was more important to Fra Angelico
than making his picture seem true to life.
Styles Influencing Styles
GOTHIC TO RENAISSANCE The transition from
Gothic to Renaissance style can be seen in these
two works in bronze. Compare the panels and identify details that reflect Renaissance or Gothic style.
Brunelleschi’s panel shows a Gothic flatness.
Each object is formed separately, and figures do
not relate to each other. The figures have
been arranged across the front plane.
■ FIGURE 16.7b
Lorenzo Ghiberti.
The Sacrifice of Isaac.
1401–2. Bronze relief.
53.3 43.2 cm (21 17”).
Museo Nazionale del
Bargello, Florence, Italy.
Ghiberti’s work forms a more unified whole. Objects overlap in a more
natural way, representative of the
Renaissance style. Figures turn into
the work and seem to communicate
through glances or gestures.
■ FIGURE 16.7a
Filippo Brunelleschi.
The Sacrifice of Isaac.
1401–2. Bronze relief.
53.3 43.2 cm (21 17”).
Museo Nazionale del
Bargello, Florence, Italy.
Brunelleschi’s panel can be
divided horizontally into three layers that are placed one on top of the
other to retain the Gothic style.
Ghiberti’s panel can be divided
vertically into two scenes that each
tell part of the story. This arrangement
reflects the Renaissance qualities of
harmony and balance.
Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378–1455)
Like Fra Angelico, Lorenzo Ghiberti (lohren-zoh gee-bair-tee) combined elements of
the new Renaissance style with the earlier
Gothic style. A sculptor, Ghiberti is best
known for the works he made for the
Baptistry of the Florence Cathedral.
The Contest for the Baptistry Doors
In 1401, the Florence City Council sponsored a contest to find an artist to decorate
the north doors of the Baptistry of the cathedral. This Baptistry, built in the twelfth century and dedicated to St. John the Baptist,
was one of the most important buildings in
the city. It was here that children were baptized and officially brought into the Church.
In 1330, an artist named Andrea Pisano had
been selected to decorate the south doors of
the Baptistry with scenes from the life of St.
John the Baptist. Pisano had done so by creating a series of bronze reliefs in the Gothic
style of that period.
To decorate the north doors the city offered
a challenge to the leading artists of the day.
Sculptors were asked to design a sample relief
panel in bronze. The subject for the relief was
to be the sacrifice of Isaac.
This subject was chosen because it seemed
like a good test for an artist. It was a religious
scene of great dramatic interest, and it would
have to include several figures in motion.
Entries were turned in by hopeful artists and
were carefully examined. Finally Ghiberti was
declared the winner. He spent the next
twenty-one years of his life completing the
twenty-eight bronze panels used on the doors
of the Baptistry.
Chapter 16 The Italian Renaissance
359
Comparison of Two Panels
When you compare Ghiberti’s winning relief panel
with one produced by his chief rival in the competition, Filippo Brunelleschi, some interesting similarities
and differences are apparent. (See Figures 16.7a and
16.7b, page 359.)
A requirement of the competition was that all the
panels had to employ the same Gothic frame used by
Pisano on the south doors of the Baptistry. At first
glance, this frame makes the panels created by
Brunelleschi and Ghiberti both look like pictures from
a medieval manuscript. A close inspection, however,
reveals that only one panel retains the Gothic style.
The Gates of Paradise
■ FIGURE 16.8 Ghiberti’s doors are still referred to as
“The Gates of Paradise.” What reaction did Ghiberti’s
work stir in his peers?
Lorenzo Ghiberti. Gates of Paradise. 1425–52. Gilt bronze. Approx. 4.57
m (15‘) high. Baptistry of Florence, Italy.
■ FIGURE 16.8
Ghiberti drew more heavily on new Renaissance
ideas later in his career when he worked on a second
set of doors for the Baptistry (Figure 16.8). These doors
showed scenes from the Old Testament.
For them, Ghiberti abandoned the Gothic frame used
in earlier panels and made the individual reliefs square.
He also introduced a greater feeling of space by using
linear perspective. This made the buildings and other
objects appear to extend back into the work.
Finally, he modeled his figures so that they stand
out from the surface of the panel and seem almost
fully rounded. When Michelangelo gazed upon these
doors, he said they were worthy of being used as the
gates to heaven.
LESSON ONE REVIEW
Reviewing Art Facts
1. Identify What was the contribution
Gutenberg’s printing press made to
the intellectual rebirth of the
Renaissance? How did it change the
way people viewed life and the world
around them?
2. Describe How did Masaccio give his
figures mass and show depth in
Figure 16.3, page 355?
3. Define What is linear perspective?
Who is given credit for this discovery?
360
Unit Six
Identifying Benefits of Visual Arts The visual arts have a
unique ability to help us understand how things work.
Artists have used the visual arts to record details of history
that would otherwise have been lost through time. Some
artists have even used the visual arts to aid them in making
discoveries in other disciplines. Leonardo da Vinci used art
to understand engineering and science.
Activity Locate images from da Vinci’s sketches in books
or on the Internet. Make a list of the things that Leonardo
studied as artist, engineer, and scientist. Share your findings
with the class.
Visit art.glencoe.com for study tools and review activities.
LESSON TWO
The Acceptance of Renaissance Ideas
Vocabulary
■
■
foreshortening
contrapposto
Artists to Meet
■
■
■
■
■
Paolo Uccello
Piero della Francesca
Donatello
Filippo Brunelleschi
Sandro Botticelli
Discover
After completing this lesson,
you will be able to:
■ Identify the ideas of the Renaissance and their influence on art
and artists.
■ Recognize how artists looked to
earlier works while developing
new styles.
number of changes had taken place during the early 1400s that
influenced artists and thinkers. Patrons of the arts such as Florence’s
Medici family knew who the talented artists were and provided them with
generous funding. Scholarship was encouraged and intellectual curiosity
spread in both the humanities and the arts.
A
Development of Renaissance Style
The medieval search for salvation gradually changed to a humanist
focus based on the classical culture of ancient Greece and Rome. As
a result of this intellectual rebirth, artists acquired additional areas of interest
from which to draw ideas for their works and developed techniques that
brought an exciting new vitality to their paintings and sculptures.
Paolo Uccello (1397-1475)
Paolo Uccello (pah-oh-loh oo-chell-oh) was one of the Renaissance
artists who eagerly accepted new Renaissance ideas. His concern for
perspective is evident when you analyze his painting The Battle of San
Romano (Figure 16.9). Bodies and broken spears are placed in such a way
that they lead your eye into the picture. Notice the fallen figure in the lower
■ FIGURE 16.9 The figures in this battle scene seem stiff and frozen. The lack of movement makes the
scene appear unrealistic. Find places where contour and axis lines lead the viewer’s eye into this work.
Paolo Uccello. The Battle of San Romano. 1445. Tempera on wood. 182 323 cm (6 105). National Gallery, London, England.
361
Closely
➤
LOOKING
USE OF THE ELEMENTS OF ART
Observe how Piero used the elements of art to
focus the viewer’s attention in this work.
•
Shape. Gently curving arches formed by a tree
branch and the hand and arm of St. John the
Baptist draw your attention to Christ’s face.
•
Line. The horizon line forms a second arch
that dips down below Christ’s head.
•
Color. Piero’s use of color gave solidity to the
figures and added realism to the space around
them.
•
Light. The clear morning air brightens the
landscape, and light flows around the people in
the scene.
■ FIGURE 16.10
Piero della Francesca.
The Baptism of Christ.
1445. Tempera on
panel. 167.6 116.2 cm
(66 45 3⁄4 ). National
Gallery, London, England.
left corner. Here Uccello used a technique
known as foreshortening, drawing figures or
objects according to the rules of perspective so
that they appear to recede or protrude into threedimensional space.
Yet, even with all its depth, you would
never say that this work looks realistic. It is
more like a group of puppets arranged in a
mock battle scene. By concentrating on perspective, Uccello failed to make his figures
and their actions seem lifelike. The world that
he painted is not a real world at all, but an
artificial world dictated almost entirely by the
rules of perspective.
Piero della Francesca
(1420–1492)
Fra Angelico and Ghiberti could not turn
their backs entirely on the Gothic style.
Uccello’s interest in the Renaissance style was
362
Unit Six Art of an Emerging Modern Europe
solely in perspective. It was up to a fourth
artist, Piero della Francesca (pee-air-oh dell-ah
fran-chess-kah), to break with tradition and
fully embrace the new style. By doing so, he
carried on the ideas that started with Giotto
and were continued by Masaccio.
The Baptism of Christ
■ FIGURE 16.10
The Baptism of Christ (Figure 16.10) shows
how Piero painted figures to appear threedimensional like the figures painted by Giotto
and Masaccio. Christ is a solid form placed in
the center of the picture. The hand of St. John
the Baptist and a dove representing the Holy
Spirit are placed directly over his head. The
figures show little movement or expression.
They are serious, calm, and still. The tree and
the figures in the foreground provide a strong
vertical emphasis. The effect of this vertical
emphasis is softened by the artist’s use of
contrasting horizontals and curves. The horizontals are found in the clouds and the dove.
The curves are seen in the branches, stream,
and horizon line.
Innovations in
Painting, Sculpture,
and Architecture
A new emphasis on realism inspired by
surviving models from classical Greece and
Rome revealed itself in various ways in the
visual arts of the Italian Renaissance.
In painting, more and more artists turned
their attention to creating depth and form to
replace the flat, two-dimensional surfaces that
characterized medieval pictures. Perspective
and modeling in light and shade were used to
achieve astonishing, realistic appearances.
In sculpture, this same concern for realism
was manifested in the lifelike figures of
Donatello and Michelangelo that seemed to
move freely and naturally in space.
In architecture, the Gothic style was abandoned by Filippo Brunelleschi and followers
in favor of a new architectural style. This
style traced its origins back in time to the
carefully proportioned, balanced, and elegant
buildings of classical times.
Donatello (1386–1466)
Donatello (doh-nah-tell-loh), one of the
assistants who worked for Ghiberti on the first
set of doors for the Baptistry of Florence, would
go on to become the greatest sculptor of the
Early Renaissance. A good friend of
Brunelleschi, he also shared Masaccio’s interest
in realistic appearances and perspective.
Styles Influencing Styles
ROMAN TO RENAISSANCE Donatello’s sculptures became famous for their lifelike qualities.
You can see this remarkable realism in Donatello’s
sculpture St. George (Figure 16.11a). The young
knight seems to lean forward in anticipation as he
stares intently ahead. Perhaps he is watching the
advance of an enemy and is preparing for his first
move, ready to do battle.
In many ways, St. George shows influences of
classical Greek sculptures. Its slightly twisting
pose, known as contrapposto, may remind you
of the Spear Bearer by Polyclitus (Figure 16.11b).
This pose is a representation of the human body in
which the weight is shifted onto one leg, shoulder,
and hip to create an uneven balance to the figure.
Even though Donatello’s figure is clothed, there is
no mistaking the presence of a human body
beneath the garments.
■ FIGURE 16.11a
Donatello. St. George. 1415–17. Marble. Approx. 210 cm
(610) high. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy.
■ FIGURE 16.11b
Polyclitus. Doryphoros (Spear Bearer). Roman copy
after Polyclitus. c. 450– 440 B.C. Life-size. Museo
Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy.
Chapter 16 The Italian Renaissance
363
■ FIGURE 16.12
Notice that
the sculptor
stretched the
upper part of
the body here.
What happens
when you
look up at
this sculpture
from below?
Donatello. St. Mark.
1411–13. Marble.
Approx. 236 cm (79)
high. Orsanmichele,
Florence, Italy.
Donatello used perspective in sculpture
when carving figures that were to be
placed above eye level in churches. He
made the upper part of the bodies longer
so that when viewed from below, they
would seem more naturalistic (Figure 16.12).
This kept his sculptures from looking short
and awkward.
Filippo Brunelleschi
(1377–1446)
You may be wondering what became of
Filippo Brunelleschi. He was, you recall,
the artist credited with discovering linear
perspective. You may also recall that he
was Ghiberti’s major rival for the right to
design the doors for the Baptistry in
Florence. When he lost the contest to
Ghiberti, Brunelleschi was very disappointed. In fact, it caused him to abandon
sculpture for a career in architecture.
Designing the Dome of
Florence Cathedral
■ FIGURE 16.13 The plan for constructing this dome was based
on building techniques developed by Gothic architects. Explain the
significance of artists making use of styles and techniques from
earlier eras.
Filippo Brunelleschi. Florence Cathedral. View of dome. Florence, Italy. 1420–36.
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Unit Six Art of an Emerging Modern Europe
Sixteen years later, the two rivals faced
each other again in another competition.
This time they were asked to submit their
designs for a huge dome for the Cathedral
of Florence. Work on the cathedral had
been under way for generations. Everything had been completed except a dome
that would span the huge opening above
the altar. No one was able to design a dome
to cover such a large opening, however.
Many claimed that it could not be done.
Brunelleschi was one of those who claimed
that it could. He submitted a plan based on
Gothic building techniques and was
awarded the opportunity to try.
Brunelleschi’s plan called for the use of
eight Gothic ribs that met at the top of the
dome and were joined by horizontal sections around the outside of the dome at its
base. The surface between the ribs was
then filled in with bricks. In Figure 16.13,
four major ribs can be seen on the outside
of the dome. For extra height, the entire
dome was placed on a drum. Circular windows in this drum allowed light to flow into
the building (Figure 16.14).
It took 16 years to build the dome, but
when it was finished, Brunelleschi’s reputation as an architect and engineer was made.
The towering dome dominated Florence. It
soon became a symbol of the city’s power and
strength. It was so spectacular that later, when
designing the great dome for St. Peter’s in
Rome, Michelangelo borrowed ideas from it.
Striving for Roman Balance
Before he began work on the dome,
Brunelleschi agreed to design a chapel for the
Pazzi family. They were one of the wealthiest
and most powerful families in Florence. In this
chapel, he rejected the Gothic style. Instead,
he chose a new architectural style based on his
studies of ancient Roman buildings.
Inside the Pazzi Chapel (Figure 16.15),
you will not see soaring pointed arches or a
long, high nave leading to an altar. The vertical movement was not stressed. Rather,
Brunelleschi wanted to achieve a comfortable
balance between vertical and horizontal
movements.
Brunelleschi preferred a gently rounded
curve rather than a tall, pointed arch. Dark
moldings, pilasters, and columns were used
to divide and organize the flat, white wall
surfaces. The overall effect is not dramatic
or mysterious as in a Gothic cathedral, but
simple, calm, and dignified. Its beauty is due
to the carefully balanced relationship of all
its parts.
■ FIGURE 16.14 The interior of the
cathedral was illuminated by the light
coming into the windows below the
dome. Why would an architect need to
incorporate light sources when planning a
building this size?
Filippo Brunelleschi. Florence Cathedral, interior.
■ FIGURE 16.15 The interior of the
Pazzi Chapel uses gentle curves and
plaster detailing to highlight and
organize the space. How does this
interior decoration reflect the mood
of a small family chapel rather than
the interior of a great cathedral?
Filippo Brunelleschi. Pazzi Chapel, interior. Santa
Croce, Florence, Italy. Begun c. 1440.
Chapter 16 The Italian Renaissance
365
LOOKING
(1445–1510)
Sandro Botticelli (sand-roh bought-tee-chel-lee) was born
in 1445 and died quietly in Florence some 66 years later.
Forgotten for centuries, the artist’s paintings are now ranked
among the most admired of the Renaissance period.
In his Adoration of the Magi (Figure 16.16), an aisle bordered by kneeling figures leads you to the Holy Family. They
are surrounded by the Magi, the kings or wise men who visited the Christ child, and their attendants all dressed in garments worn during Botticelli’s time. The Magi are presenting
their gifts to the Christ child, seated on Mary’s lap.
Closely
➤
Sandro Botticelli
USE OF THE ELEMENTS
AND PRINCIPLES
•
Line. Botticelli’s figures are drawn
with crisp, sharp, contour lines and
their garments have folds that twist
and turn in a decorative pattern.
•
Proportion. A graceful style can be
seen in the figure of Mary. Her upper
body has been stretched and her head
tilted to make her look more elegant.
•
Emphasis. Line is used
to unify the painting and
to emphasize the most
important parts. A line
drawn around the principal figures forms a large
triangle with the Madonna
and child at the top. If
you include the Magi’s
attendants on both sides,
a large W is formed.
■ FIGURE 16.16
Sandro Botticelli. The Adoration of the Magi.
c. 1481. Tempera and oil on wood. Approx.
.7 1 m (27 5⁄8 41). National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C. Board of Trustees, Andrew
W. Mellon Collection.
LESSON TWO REVIEW
Reviewing Art Facts
1. Explain What was the technique
used by Piero della Francesca to give
solidity to his figures and realism to
the space around them?
2. Identify What were the shared interests of sculptor Donatello and painter
Masaccio?
3. Describe How did Donatello use perspective in his sculptural figures?
4. Explain Who were the Medicis? How
did they influence Renaissance art?
366
Unit Six
Drawing in Perspective Renaissance artists discovered
perspective and used it extensively in their paintings. They
enjoyed creating the illusion of deep space on a flat surface.
When artists such as Mascaccio (Figure 16.3) and Botticelli
(Figure 16.16) created a religious painting, they often
included Greek and Roman architectural forms.
Activity Create a maze drawing based on two-point perspective. Use arches, columns and domes in your drawing.
Research modern architectural forms such as the cantilever
and include them in your work. Display your finished work
and discuss your use of perspective with the class.
Visit art.glencoe.com for study tools and review activities.
LESSON THREE
High Renaissance
Vocabulary
■
Pietà
Artists to Meet
■
■
■
■
Leonardo da Vinci
Michelangelo
Raphael
Sofonisba Anguissola
Discover
After completing this lesson,
you will be able to:
■ Identify the artists of the High
Renaissance and describe their
contributions.
■ Discuss the reasons why there
were few artworks by women
artists before the Renaissance.
Explore more of da Vinci’s works
at art.glencoe.com.
O
ne of the most remarkable things about the Renaissance was its great
wealth of artistic talent. Between the years 1495 and 1527, known as
the High Renaissance, the master artists Leonardo, Michelangelo, and
Raphael created their timeless masterpieces.
All three lived in Italy and were commissioned by the popes of Rome to
create ambitious artworks that glorified religious themes. Never before
had such a concentrated surge of creative energy occurred simultaneously
on three fronts. Like all artists before them, these great masters dreamed
of achieving new levels of excellence.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Even when he was a child, people saw that Leonardo da Vinci (layoh-nar-doh da vin-chee) was blessed with remarkable powers. He had
gracious manners, a fine sense of humor, and great physical strength.
Leonardo also had a curiosity that drove him to explore everything. As
he grew older, he studied architecture, mathematics, sculpture, painting,
anatomy, poetry, literature, music, geology, botany, and hydraulics. It is estimated that he completed 120 notebooks filled with drawings surrounded by
explanations (Figure 16.17). The subjects range from anatomy to storm
clouds to rock formations to military fortifications.
Leonardo dissected cadavers at a time when the practice was outlawed.
This enabled him to learn how arms and legs bend and how muscles shift
as the body moves. He was especially interested in the head, particularly how
the eye sees and how the mind reasons. He searched for
that part of the brain where the senses meet, believing
that this was where the soul would be found.
The Last Supper
■ FIGURE 16.17 Leonardo’s sketchbooks reveal his
remarkable curiosity. Can you name some of the subjects that
interested him?
Leonardo da Vinci. Giant catapult. c. 1499. Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy.
■ FIGURE 16.18
Leonardo left many projects unfinished because the
results did not please him or because he was eager to
move on to some new task. He was always experimenting, and many of these experiments ended in failure. Perhaps his greatest “failure” is his version of The
Last Supper (Figure 16.18, page 368). This was a magnificent painting that began to flake off the wall shortly
after he applied his final brushstroke because he had
used an experimental painting technique.
The Last Supper had been painted many times
before, and so Leonardo probably welcomed the challenge of creating his own version. He had an entire
wall to work on in a dining hall used by monks in
the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.
Chapter 16 The Italian Renaissance
367
■ FIGURE 16.18 This painting depicts a key scene in the life of Christ and is painted on a
wall of an actual dining hall. Explain why Leonardo grouped the figures around the table
so close together.
Leonardo da Vinci. The Last Supper. c. 1495–98. Fresco. S. Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy.
Using linear perspective, Leonardo
designed his scene so that it would look like a
continuation of the dining hall. Christ is the
center of the composition. All the lines of the
architecture lead to him silhouetted in the
window. He has just announced that one of
the apostles (Judas) would betray him, and
this news has unleashed a flurry of activity
around the table. Only Christ remains calm
and silent, and this effectively separates him
from the others.
The apostles are grouped in threes, all
expressing disbelief in his statement except
Judas. The third figure on Christ’s right,
Judas, leans on the table and stares at Christ,
his expression a mixture of anger and defiance. He is further set off by the fact that his
face is the only one in shadow. The other
apostles, stunned, shrink back and express
their denials and questions in different ways.
As you examine Leonardo’s painting, you
may be struck by an unusual feature. All the
apostles are crowded together on the far side of
the table. Certainly they could not have been
comfortable that way, and yet none had moved
to the near side, where there is ample room.
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Unit Six Art of an Emerging Modern Europe
Leonardo chose not to spread his figures out
because that would have reduced the impact of
the scene. Instead, he jammed them together to
accent the action and the drama.
Leonardo broke with tradition by including
Judas with the other apostles. Earlier works
usually showed him standing or sitting at one
end of the table, apart from the others.
Instead, Leonardo placed him among the
apostles but made him easy to identify with a
dark profile to show that Judas was separated
from the other apostles in a spiritual rather
than in a physical way.
Mona Lisa
■ FIGURE 16.19
Leonardo was a genius who showed great
skill in everything he tried. This was his
blessing and his curse, for he jumped suddenly from one undertaking to the next. His
curiosity and constant experimenting often
kept him from remaining with a project until
it was completed. A perfectionist, he was
never entirely satisfied with his efforts. When
he died, he still had in his possession the
Mona Lisa portrait (Figure 16.19). He had
been working on it for 16 years. Yet, he
claimed that it was still unfinished. That
painting, which he regarded as unfinished,
is now one of the most popular works of art
ever created.
Michelangelo (1475–1564)
Ranked alongside Leonardo as one of
the greatest artists of the Renaissance was
Michelangelo Buonarroti (my-kel-an-jayloh bwon-nar-roh-tee). Like Leonardo,
Michelangelo was gifted in many fields,
including sculpture, painting, and poetry.
Pietà
■ FIGURE 16.20
A measure of Michelangelo’s early genius is
provided by his Pietà (Figure 16.20), carved
when he was still in his early twenties. A Pietà
is a work showing Mary mourning over the
body of Christ. In this over-life-size work, the
Virgin Mary is seated at the foot of the cross. She
holds in her lap the lifeless form of the crucified
Christ. Gently, she supports her son with her right
arm. With her left, she expresses her deep sorrow
with a simple gesture.
Mary’s face is expressionless. It is a beautiful
face, but small when compared to her
huge body. In fact, you may have noticed that
Mary’s body is much larger than that of Christ.
Why would Michelangelo make the woman
so much larger than the man? Probably
because a huge and powerful Mary was necessary to support with ease the heavy body of
her son. Michelangelo
wanted you to focus your attention on the religious meaning of
the figures and the event, not
on Mary’s struggle
to support the
weight of
Christ’s body.
■ FIGURE 16.20
■ FIGURE 16.19
The eyes are the windows
to the mind, according
to Leonardo, and he
expressed this idea in his
portrait of Mona Lisa.
Tell how the artist has succeeded in demonstrating
his idea in the way he
painted the portrait.
Michelangelo brings
forth the expression of tenderness and emotion
in this marble sculpture.
What is happening in this
scene, and how has the
artist shown emotion in
the position of the figures?
Michelangelo. Pietà. c. 1500.
Marble. St. Peter’s Basilica,
Rome, Italy.
Leonardo da Vinci. Mona Lisa.
c. 1503–06. Oil on wood.
77 53 cm (333⁄8 207⁄8). The
Louvre Museum, Paris, France.
Chapter 16 The Italian Renaissance
369
The Ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel
■ FIGURE 16.21 This fresco was completed by Michelangelo after four years
of working on scaffolding built especially to reach the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel. Explain what issues the artist would have to consider while working
on wet plaster.
Michelangelo. Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. 1508–12. Fresco. Vatican Museums and Galleries,
Vatican City, Italy.
370
Unit Six Art of an Emerging Modern Europe
Everything that Michelangelo
set out to do was on a grand scale.
For this reason, many projects
were never completed. Asked by
Pope Julius II to design a tomb for
the pope himself, Michelangelo
created a design calling for 40 figures. Only a statue of Moses and
some figures of slaves were ever
finished, however.
While Michelangelo was still
preparing for this project, the pope
changed his mind and decided not
to spend any more money for it.
Instead, he assigned the artist the
task of painting the immense ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican
(Figure 16.21).
This chapel was about 40 feet
wide and about 133 feet long
and had a rounded ceiling. The
ceiling had been painted with
stars on a dark blue background.
Because it looked very hard
and time-consuming to paint,
Michelangelo protested. It was not
just the difficulty of the task. No
doubt his pride was hurt as well.
Ceiling paintings were considered
less important than wall paintings, but the walls of the Sistine
Chapel had already been painted
by Botticelli and other wellknown artists.
Furthermore, what could he
paint on such an immense ceiling
so high above the heads of viewers? Michelangelo’s anger was
intensified by the fact that he
thought of himself as a sculptor
and not a painter. In the end, all
his protests were in vain. The
proud, defiant artist gave in to
the pope.
Before he could begin work on
the ceiling, Michelangelo had to
build a high scaffold stretching the
length of the chapel. Then, refusing the aid of
assistants, he bent over backward and lay on
his back to paint on the wet plaster applied to
the ceiling. He divided the ceiling into nine
main sections and in these painted the story of
humanity from the Creation to the Flood.
Michelangelo’s Sculptural
Painting Style
Looking up at this huge painting, you can
see that Michelangelo the sculptor left his
mark for all to see. It looks more like a carving than a painting. The figures are highly
modeled in light and shade to look solid and
three-dimensional. They are shown in constant movement, twisting and turning until
they seem about to break out of their niches
and leap down from their frames.
A Dedicated Artist
For more than four years, Michelangelo
toiled on the huge painting over 68 feet above
the floor of the chapel. Food was sent up to
him, and he climbed down from the
scaffold only to sleep.
Perhaps his greatest difficulty was
being forced to see and work while
bending backward in a cramped position. He claimed that after working on
the Sistine ceiling, he was never able to
walk in an upright position again.
When Michelangelo was finished,
he had painted 145 pictures with more
than 300 figures, many of which were
10 feet high. Only a man of superhuman strength and determination—only
a Michelangelo—could have produced
such a work.
Moses
■ FIGURE 16.22
As soon as the Sistine Chapel was
finished, Michelangelo returned to
work on the pope’s tomb. Attacking
the stone blocks with mallet and
chisel, he said that he was “freeing”
the figures trapped inside. In about two
years, he carved the life-size figures of
two slaves and a seated Moses.
Michelangelo’s Moses (Figure 16.22)
shows the prophet as a wise leader, but capable of great fury. His head turns as if something has caught his attention. It is a
powerful and commanding portrait.
Michelangelo’s Energy and Spirit
Popes and princes admired Michelangelo,
and everyone stood in awe before his works.
His talents were so great that people said that
he could not be human, but he had some
very human characteristics as well. He had
strong views about art, and this caused him
to disagree with other artists, including
Leonardo. A violent temper made it difficult
for him to work with assistants. He placed his
art above everything else. Only death, at age
89, could silence the energy and the spirit of
the man regarded by many as the greatest
artist of his time.
■ FIGURE 16.22
Moses seems
about to come
alive and rise up
from his marble
seat. Discuss
how this work of
art demonstrates
Michelangelo’s
strength and
abilities as a
sculptor.
Michelangelo. Moses.
c. 1513–15. Marble.
Approx. 244 cm (8’)
high. San Pietro
in Vincoli, Rome, Italy.
Chapter 16 The Italian Renaissance
371
A rt
Symbolism in Renaissance
The “school” to which this work refers is actually two oppos3
1
4
2
6
7
5
■ FIGURE 16.23 Raphael. The School of Athens (detail).
1509–11. Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Palace, Rome.
ing schools of thought represented by the two great classical
philosophers Plato and Aristotle (Figure 16.23).
Raphael placed these two figures before an open archway.
To further emphasize their importance, the artist arranged all
the perspective lines so they would converge on a central vanishing point placed between these two figures.
On Plato’s side of the composition are the ancient philosophers concerned with the metaphysical, the mysteries that go
beyond the here and now. On Aristotle’s side are the philosophers and scientists interested in nature and the affairs of
humankind.
➤
2
➤
➤
1
At the right, Aristotle holds his Ethics and
gestures earthward to indicate his greater
interest in the real and practical world.
3
To Plato’s right a
niche contains a
statue of Apollo,
patron of poetry.
At the left,
Plato holds his
classic work
Timaeus in
one hand while
pointing skyward with the
other to symbolize his concern with an
idealistic world.
4
➤
A niche to the left
of Aristotle holds a
statue of Athena,
goddess of reason.
➤
➤
It is thought that
Michelangelo is
portrayed as the
philosopher
Heraclitus. He
sits pensively
on the steps
with his head
resting on his
hand as he
writes.
372
Unit Six Art of an Emerging Modern Europe
A portrait of the aged Leonardo
is believed to be seen as the
philosopher Plato.
➤
5
6
7
Raphael included his own
portrait as the young man
looking at us in the lower
far right. He appears among
the mathematicians symbolizing the Renaissance
belief that geometry and art
were strongly linked and
that a knowledge of mathematics was essential to an
artist’s development.
Raphael (1483–1520)
Interpretation of a Religious Theme
Raphael Sanzio (rah-fah-yell sahn-zee-oh)
was successful, wealthy, and admired
throughout his brief but brilliant career. As a
child in a small town in central Italy, he was
apprenticed to a respected artist. He learned
to use soft colors, simple circular forms, and
gentle landscapes in his paintings.
The young, ambitious Raphael next traveled to Florence to study the works of the
leading artists of the day. From Leonardo he
learned how to use shading to create the illusion of three-dimensional form. From
Michelangelo he learned how to add vitality
and energy to his figures. By blending
the ideas of those artists in his own works, he
became the most typical artist of the
Renaissance.
The halos and cross immediately suggest a
religious theme. The woman and unclothed
child are identified as the Madonna and the
Christ child. The second child is St. John the
Baptist. The camel’s hair garment that he
wears fits the description of the garment he
wore later while preaching in the desert.
St. John holds a small cross, the symbol of
salvation made possible by Christ’s death.
The Christ child freely accepts the cross and
appears to be turning and moving on his
mother’s lap. He twists around in a way that
suggests that he wants St. John, representing
all people, to follow him.
There is an undercurrent of tension in the
work that is best noted in the faces. All three
figures stare intently at this cross, and their
thoughts drift to the future. Do they recognize
The School of Athens
■ FIGURE 16.23
In 1508, at about the same time
Michelangelo began work on the
Sistine Chapel ceiling, Pope
Julius II summoned Raphael
to Rome to decorate a series
of rooms in the Vatican
Palace. In the first of
these rooms, Raphael
painted frescoes celebrating the four
domains of learning:
theology, philosophy,
law, and the arts. One
of these is The School
of Athens. (See
Figure 16.1, page 352
and Figure 16.23.)
The Alba Madonna
■ FIGURE 16.24
It was while Raphael was working on the Vatican frescoes that he
probably painted the well-known Alba
Madonna (Figure 16.24). This is an excellent
example of the kind of pictures that
were painted in Italy at the peak of
the Renaissance.
■ FIGURE 16.24
These figures seem
round, solid, and
lifelike, a result of
Raphael’s subtle shading
technique. Describe how
the Madonna figure in this
scene is shown demonstrating care
and concern for her holy charges.
Raphael. The Alba Madonna. c. 1510. Oil on wood panel
transferred to canvas. Diameter, 94.5 cm (37 1⁄4). National
Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Board of Trustees,
Andrew W. Mellon Collection.
Chapter 16 The Italian Renaissance
373
the meaning of the cross, or are they concerned only with the unexpected uneasiness
it stirs up within them?
most part, to making embroideries and
tapestries and occasionally producing
illustrated manuscripts.
Raphael’s Mastery of Color
and Form
The Role of Artists
There is a balanced use of hue in the painting. Raphael has used the three primary
colors—red, yellow, and blue—which represent
a balance of the color spectrum. Blue dominates; it is used throughout the work and, in the
background, adds to the illusion of deep space.
This illusion is heightened further by the
use of duller hues in the background. A gradual change from light to dark values adds a
feeling of roundness and mass.
Renaissance
Women Artists
You may have noticed that in the coverage
of art periods up to this point, there has been
no mention of women artists. The reason for
this is that few works by women artists completed before the Renaissance have come to
light. Furthermore, it was not until the
Renaissance had passed its peak that women
artists were able to make names for themselves as serious artists. Even in that enlightened period, it was not easy for women to
succeed as artists because of the obstacles
that had to be overcome.
Role of Women in
the Medieval Period
During the Medieval period, most women
were expected to tend to duties within the
household. Their first responsibilities were
those of wife and mother. If that failed to
occupy all their time, they were required to
join their husbands in the backbreaking
chores awaiting in the fields.
Women were, in general, excluded from
the arts because, as women, most of them
were prevented from gaining the knowledge
and skills needed to become artists. Their
involvement in art was limited, for the
374
Unit Six Art of an Emerging Modern Europe
During the Renaissance, the new importance attached to artists made it even more
difficult for women to pursue a career in art.
Artists at that time were required to spend
longer periods in apprenticeship. During this
time, they studied mathematics, the laws of
perspective, and anatomy.
Serious artists were also expected to journey
to major art centers. There they could study the
works of famous living artists as well as the art
of the past. This kind of education was out of
the question for most women in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries. Only a handful were
determined enough to overcome all these barriers and succeed as serious artists. One of these
was Sofonisba Anguissola (soh-foh-niss-bah
ahn-gue-iss-sol-ah).
Sofonisba Anguissola
(1532–1625)
Anguissola was the first Italian woman to
gain a worldwide reputation as an artist. She
was the oldest in a family of six daughters and
one son born to a nobleman in Cremona
about 12 years after Raphael’s death.
Sofonisba’s father was pleased to find that all
his children showed an interest in art or
music. He encouraged them all, especially his
oldest daughter.
Sofonisba was allowed to study with local
artists, and her skills were quickly recognized. Her proud father even wrote to the
great Michelangelo about her. The response
was words of encouragement and a drawing
that Sofonisba could study and copy as part
of her training.
Many of Sofonisba’s early works were portraits of herself and members of her family.
Her father was always eager to spread the
word about his talented daughter. He sent
several of her self-portraits to various courts,
including that of Pope Julius III.
In 1559, while she was still in her
twenties, Sofonisba accepted an invitation from the King of Spain, Philip II.
He asked her to join his court in Madrid
as a lady-in-waiting. For ten years, she
painted portraits of the royal family.
After this time, she met and married a
nobleman from Sicily. She returned to
Italy with him and a fine assortment of
gifts presented to her by the appreciative king.
A Game of Chess
■ FIGURE 16.25
Many of Sofonisba’s portraits,
including Figure 16.25, deserve to be
included among the best produced
during the late Renaissance. An older
sister looks out of the painting directly
at the viewer while a younger player
raises her hand and appears to be
speaking to her. The youngest sister,
standing between them, smiles broadly
as if she already knows the outcome of
the game. This lively and innovative
painting may be a forerunner of pictures done in later centuries, in which
several figures are shown carrying on a
conversation with each other.
■ FIGURE 16.25 About fifty signed paintings by this artist have survived to
the present day. Many, like this one, are portraits. What has the artist done to
make you feel like you are part of this scene?
Sofonisba Anguissola. A Game of Chess, Involving the Painter’s Three Sisters and a Servant. 1555.
Canvas. 72 97 cm (28 1⁄4 38). Erich Lessong/Art Resource, NY.
LESSON THREE REVIEW
Reviewing Art Facts
1. Identify Name five of the many different subjects Leonardo studied.
2. Explain Why did Michelangelo distort the proportion of the figures in his
Pietà?
3. Recall Why was Michelangelo not
asked to paint the walls of the Sistine
Chapel?
4. Describe Why was Raphael regarded
as the most typical of the Renaissance
artists?
Preserving Art Treasures Research the difference between
restoration and preservation of famous works of art. Consider
that some people feel that works of art should only be preserved rather than restored. Several great masterpieces of the
Renaissance have been restored. With restoration, great
works can be viewed as they appeared when they were new.
Activity Using available resources conduct research and
take notes on restored masterpieces. Study some works such
as the Great Pyramids in Egypt and the Colosseum in Rome
that have not been restored. Should these treasures be
restored or preserved? Present your viewpoint to the class.
Visit art.glencoe.com for study tools and review activities.
Chapter 16
375
Art restoration goes high tech.
ome critics laughed
when computers
were brought in to help
restore Michelangelo's
frescoes in the Sistine
Chapel in Rome. How
could a computer help
restorers remove grime
and murky glue from
one of the Renaissance’s
greatest masterpieces?
Simple. The computers
were programmed to
map every curve and
crack of the painting. It
proved so valuable to
restorers, they had the
computers installed 65
feet above the ground, High above the floor of the Sistine Chapel, man and computer work to eliminate nearly
500 years of accumulated dirt from Michaelangelo’s masterpiece.
on the main scaffold.
The computer put a
wealth of data about the frescoes at the restorers’ fingertips.
The project took place from 1979 to 1999. Since that time,
technology has become a vital tool of the art restorer. From
simple cataloging to advanced image processing, computers,
as well as high-tech cameras and sensors, are making restoration
easier to manage.
In some cases, however, not even
computers can solve a restoration
TIME to Connect
problem. A case in point is
Michelangelo’s nude figures in The
Research the controversy surrounding this restoration project
Last Judgment. They offended church
using your school’s media center. Cite resources for the
members of the sixteenth century,
information you find. Using your findings, present both sides of
the issue.
and so artists painted strips of cloth
over the bodies. After analyzing the
• Divide a piece of paper into two columns: Pro and Con. On the
Con side, give the position of the critics of the restoration.Why
underlying layers, the restorers made
did they think restoration would damage the artwork? Are they
an amazing discovery: Before the
happy with the results? Explain why or why not.
loincloths were added, Michelangelo’s
• On the Pro side, explain why restorers thought the restoration
original painting was physically
was important. Do they think the artwork has been improved?
scraped away! The restorers had to
Explain their reasons. Share your findings with the class. Include
leave the loincloths on the figures!
VITTORIANO RASTELLI
S
examples of before-and-after photos of the restoration.
22
376
Chapter 8
Chapter 16
Greek Art
The Italian Renaissance
16
REVIEW
Reviewing the Facts
Thinking Critically
Lesson One
1. What invention was most responsible for
helping to educate the middle classes during
the Renaissance?
2. Were Renaissance artists more interested in
studying the artistic accomplishments of the
Medieval period or of the Greeks and Romans?
3. Who is regarded as the first important artist of
the Italian Renaissance?
Lesson Two
4. Refer to Piero della Francesca’s The Baptism of
Christ (Figure 16.10 on page 362). How is the
main figure made to look most important?
5. Who was the greatest sculptor of the Early Renaissance? What quality did his sculptures exhibit?
6. Name the artist who is given credit for inventing
the system of linear perspective.
Lesson Three
7. List six fields, other than painting, that Leonardo
da Vinci studied.
8. Who painted the Mona Lisa and how long did
he work on it?
1. ANALYZE. Look at Masaccio’s The Holy Trinity
(Figure 16.3 on page 355). Then refer to the
techniques that create the illusion of depth on
pages 38–39 in Chapter 2. Identify the techniques
that Masaccio has used.
2. EVALUATE. Locate examples of aerial perspective. Explain why this technique is appropriately
named.
Compare and contrast two artworks from
the Renaissance period. What is the subject
matter? How does each artist use the
elements of line, color, texture, space, and
shape or form? How does each use the
principles of art? What media were used to
create the artworks? Describe the mood or
feeling of the artworks. Date your entries
and include them in your digital portfolio.
At a later date, compare these artworks with
ones created during a different time period.
Standardized Test Practice
Read the paragraph below, and then answer the question.
Linear perspecVanishing Point
tive uses the geo(V)
Eye Level
metric principle of
projection to help
artists accurately
C
D
capture threeA
B
dimensional
objects in two dimensions. A projection is the
reproduction of points and lines in one plane
onto another by connecting corresponding
points on the two planes with parallel lines.
In the example here, the two cubic figures
(in dotted lines) are projections of triangles
with a common vertex, V. Note that V corresponds to the vanishing point.
A formal proof of a law of linear perspective
projection would be supported by all of the
following “postulates” EXCEPT:
The length of the side parallel to Eye
Level determines the perceived nearness of the solid figure.
Every line not perpendicular to Eye
Level will converge on point V.
No angle can ever equal 180º.
Any solid (three-dimensional) figure
can be projected.
Chapter 16 Review
377